1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to resource management for wireless communication systems and more particularly to resource management and interference mitigation in femtocells.
2. Description of the Related Art
The demand for higher data rates and increased spectral efficiencies is driving next generation broadband access networks towards deploying smaller cell structures, in particular, femtocells, that use Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) schemes. Femtocells are installed indoors, for example in enterprises and homes, and operate using the same spectrum and access technology as traditional macrocell towers, while connecting to the core network through a cable or DSL backhaul. In addition to the increased user throughput from short ranges, the smaller size of femtocells increases the system capacity due to increased spatial reuse. This permits mobile broadband service providers to (i) improve coverage and service quality, (ii) effectively balance load by offloading traffic from macrocells to femtocells, and (iii) reduce operational expenses and subscriber churn.